When you think back on your most memorable meal, what comes to mind? The company you kept? The exceptional wine list? An entre made up of the freshest Louisiana ingredients?

Chef Barrett Meeks and Abney Harper are two Baton Rouge restaurateurs making memorable meals for locals with successful establishments located just doors apart from each other on Corporate Boulevard in Baton Rouge.

Executive Chef Barret Meeks of Mansurs On The Boulevard developed his passion for cooking when he was just 8 years old. He’d been invited into John Folse’s kitchen at Lafitte’s Landing Restaurant to see how a dessert was plated. 

Later, after graduating from LSU and the Louisiana Culinary Institute, he opened a food truck called The Bengalier. 

In 2015, Chef Meeks joined the kitchen staff at Mansurs on the Boulevard, working his way up the ranks to become Executive Chef in 2021. 

Abney Harper met her husband and business partner while a student at Tulane University Law School. Years later, after practicing law for over a decade, she left her practice to join the restaurant industry. 

Today Abney is the co-owner of two businesses: Prima Apres, a fast casual pasta and pavlova restaurant, and Sucre Baton Rouge, and Sucre Covington, desert restaurants famous for their macarons and gelato.

Whether we're eating Italian cuisine, Creole specialties, or mom's favorite recipes, in Louisiana we love gathering around a table with family and friends for an exceptional meal. Those meals are often inspired by cCreole history and traditions and typically end with a sumptuous bread pudding or bananas foster. But other equally memorable meals end with bite-sized surprises like a French-inspired macaron or exotic pavlova, a meringue named after a Russian ballerina.   

In Baton Rouge we're thankful for these specialty culinary experiences that are made possible by Abney Harper and Barret Meeks.

Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard. You can find photos from this show by Photos by Ben Rabalais from Albaledo Media at itsbatonrouge.la.

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